MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers declined Colin Rea¡¯s club option, and Frankie Montas declined his half of a mutual option on Monday, bringing into further focus the state of Milwaukee¡¯s starting rotation as baseball¡¯s offseason gets underway.
Those were two of a series of moves on a busy day for the Brewers, who extended a qualifying offer to free agent shortstop Willy Adames, outrighted two arbitration-eligible players after they cleared waivers -- first baseman Jake Bauers and right-hander Bryse Wilson -- and saw two other players claimed off waivers -- right-hander Kevin Herget by the Mets and left-hander Rob Zastryzny by the Cubs.
Rea, Montas, Bauers and Wilson all become free agents. Freeing some 40-man roster spots allowed for the reinstatement of the players on Milwaukee¡¯s 60-day injured list, including star outfielder Christian Yelich.
With the departures of Montas (who gets a $2 million buyout of his $20 million mutual option) and Rea ($1 million buyout of a $5.5 million club option) on top of previous moves to decline Wade Miley¡¯s mutual option and to pick up Freddy Peralta¡¯s club option, here are the starting pitching options on the Brewers¡¯ 40-man roster:
? RHP Freddy Peralta
? RHP Tobias Myers
? RHP Brandon Woodruff
? RHP Aaron Civale (arbitration eligible)
? LHP Aaron Ashby
? LHP DL Hall
? LHP Robert Gasser (rehabbing from Tommy John surgery)
? RHP Carlos Rodriguez
Rodriguez spent most of last season in the Minors, where the Brewers also have top pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski (MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 3 Brewers prospect), Logan Henderson (No. 11) and Chad Patrick at the Triple-A level plus Double-A right-hander K.C. Hunt (No. 29), who was one of Milwaukee¡¯s co-Minor League pitchers of the year (with Craig Yoho).
Of those prospects, Henderson and Patrick would have to be added to the 40-man roster by Nov. 19 to be protected from December¡¯s Rule 5 Draft.
Looking at the Major League options, only Peralta and Myers are locks for next year¡¯s rotation at this point. Woodruff would join them if he proves healthy; he spent all of ¡®24 rehabbing from offseason shoulder surgery and had just gotten back on the mound at the end of last season. Woodruff hasn¡¯t been ruled out for the start of next season, but it would take a lot of continued progress.
¡°The progression with a shoulder is sometimes challenging,¡± Milwaukee GM Matt Arnold said last month, ¡°but I know he's putting in all the work for it, and we'll see what it looks like in the spring."
Gasser, meanwhile, won¡¯t be ready for the start of 2024 as he continues his comeback from elbow surgery in June. Arnold said the optimistic timeline had the Brewers ¡°targeting the end of next year¡± for Gasser to pitch in the Majors.
For Civale, the question is not health but whether the Brewers plan to tender him a contract by the Nov. 22 deadline. Acquired in July from the Rays, Civale earned $4.9 million in 2024 and is in line for a raise in his final year of arbitration. He was 6-3 with a 3.53 ERA in 14 Brewers starts.
After that come some question marks. Most of Ashby¡¯s and Hall¡¯s success in 2024 came in relief -- especially Ashby, who emerged from two years of rehab from shoulder surgery to deliver a 2.86 ERA in 14 regular-season appearances for the Brewers and went into the postseason as one of the team¡¯s top high-leverage relievers. But at least one prominent voice is advocating for both Ashby and Hall to spend this offseason building up to compete for the starting rotation next spring.
¡°I'd like for these two guys to fight it out,¡± pitching coach Chris Hook said after inking a multi-year contract to remain with Milwaukee. ¡°Like, ¡®Hey, man, let's go win a starting job.¡¯¡±
Rodriguez will also have to win his spot. He won the organization¡¯s Minor League pitcher of the year honor in back-to-back seasons in 2022-23 but endured a disappointing ¡®24, going 0-3 with a 7.30 ERA in three Brewers starts when a chance to claim a permanent spot in the rotation was dangling right in front of him, and 9-9 with a 4.51 ERA in 25 games, 22 starts, at Nashville.
They¡¯ll all be competing for a rotation that held its own last season despite a slew of departures and injuries. With 17 pitchers making at least one start, the Brewers ranked 17th of 30 Major League teams with a 4.09 ERA from their starters. Because some of them were ¡°openers,¡± Brewers starters carried the fifth-lightest workload in MLB, combining for 794 innings.